L-thai Tiles - A Warning

[auntyedna]

L-Thai tiles from Lampang certainly look nice. But whatever you do, don't choose "Mixed White". I did. There was a single Mixed White tile on display at Homepro and on the basis of that I ordered 50 sq m through my builder. When we opened the boxes, we found a mixture of six different varieties of tile, most of which were cheap pale blue and pale green glazed tiles. The high quality display tile we had seen was about one in ten. I checked the website and indeed, Mixed White does include a mixture of blue and green (for some reason). But that wasn't all...

Not only were the colours mixed but so were the sizes! Each variety of tile was the same size but the difference between varieties was up to 5mm. Imagine trying to lay those. My builder tried, and I had to condemn the first 10 sq m - terrible. But that wasn't all, either...

I contacted a Khun Verasak of L-Thai to complain about the size variation (I'd already swallowed the fact that "white" can mean "green" and "blue": This is Thailand, etc) and asked to exchange the unopened boxes of Mixed White for something else. First he claimed that the tiles I'd bought were fake. Later he suggested laying them at a wider spacing, but no way would he take them back. I found out later that Mixed White have a terrible reputation down here in the south - many disappointed customers.

Solution: I cancelled the remaining 100 sq m of L-Thai on order and replaced them with Keratiles - cheaper, lovely designs, and, would you believe it? all the same size.

Aunty Edna

[trogers]

L-Thai tiles are not machine molded. They are chosen by designers due to the variation in size, thickess and colour. They are to be laid with opened joints, that is, 1/2 inch gaps between tiles.

If you want good consistency in colour and size, use Kenza tiles.

High glossy tiles laid on the floor with closed joints can kill people.

Edited April 30, 2009 by trogers

[auntyedna]

L-Thai tiles are not machine molded. They are chosen by designers due to the variation in size, thickess and colour. They are to be laid with opened joints, that is, 1/2 inch gaps between tiles.

If you want good consistency in colour and size, use Kenza tiles.

High glossy tiles laid on the floor with closed joints can kill people.

1/2 inch gaps? Mmm! Been there, tried that... looked just lovely! Size variation? Put your brain in neutral and read my second paragraph again. Also have a look at the photo of L-Thai Mixed White on their website, blow it up and compare the sizes of the different colours - same size give or take a pixel. Trade descriptions??

And who said anything about floors?

No. L-Thai have made a serious cock-up with their Mixed White, and have a serious attitude problem when people complain. This is a pity because their products overall are very good.

[Cuban]

I feel for you, I really do. Having recently been involved with tiling in someone else's house and from reading your experiance the lesson learnt is to check 100% item's bought.

I was looking at some really nice tiles last week, I could picture the room that they wil be installed in - now I have the alarm bells ringing when I foresee the one off-color tile in the mist of the rest.

Thank you for sharing the experiance.

[platoo]

L-Thai tiles from Lampang certainly look nice. But whatever you do, don't choose "Mixed White". I did. There was a single Mixed White tile on display at Homepro and on the basis of that I ordered 50 sq m through my builder. When we opened the boxes, we found a mixture of six different varieties of tile, most of which were cheap pale blue and pale green glazed tiles. The high quality display tile we had seen was about one in ten. I checked the website and indeed, Mixed White does include a mixture of blue and green (for some reason). But that wasn't all...

Not only were the colours mixed but so were the sizes! Each variety of tile was the same size but the difference between varieties was up to 5mm. Imagine trying to lay those. My builder tried, and I had to condemn the first 10 sq m - terrible. But that wasn't all, either...

I contacted a Khun Verasak of L-Thai to complain about the size variation (I'd already swallowed the fact that "white" can mean "green" and "blue": This is Thailand, etc) and asked to exchange the unopened boxes of Mixed White for something else. First he claimed that the tiles I'd bought were fake. Later he suggested laying them at a wider spacing, but no way would he take them back. I found out later that Mixed White have a terrible reputation down here in the south - many disappointed customers.

Solution: I cancelled the remaining 100 sq m of L-Thai on order and replaced them with Keratiles - cheaper, lovely designs, and, would you believe it? all the same size.

Aunty Edna

I have just had my house built and the tiles in the bathroom is a disaster. I plan to remove all and start new. CAn you give me some tips? best places to find tiles and workers, labour? We live in Chiang Mai, Bor Sang area. Thanks.